Learn Farsi: چند ماشین بیرون است؟

In Farsi, nouns that come after numbers or quantity words like چند (how many) always stay in their singular form. You literally say "how many car". You will use this same rule when answering with numbers from your current lesson, such as "two car" or "five car".

Why does the sentence use the singular verb است (is) instead of a plural verb for "are"?

There are two helpful rules here. First, because the noun ماشین stays singular after چند, the verb matches it. Second, in Farsi, inanimate objects (things that are not alive, like cars) almost always take a singular verb anyway, even if there is more than one.

Does the word چند always ask a question?

In a question like this one, چند means "how many". However, if you see it in a regular statement, it means "a few" or "several". For example, as a statement, چند ماشین just means "a few cars".

I noticed ماشین sounds like the English word "machine". Is it used the exact same way?

It is a borrowed word (from French), but in everyday Farsi, ماشین specifically means "car" or "automobile". If you want to talk about a mechanical machine in general, Farsi uses a different word.